With the Columbia River Conference meet just a few weeks away, it’s crunch time for Hood River Valley High School track and field. As a good measuring stick of where individuals are in their events and how the team measures up to the progress of other teams, the Eagles traveled to Bend last weekend for the 14-team Summit Invitational.

As one of the top programs in the state, at any level, Summit’s girls team had a commanding win, with a whipping 217-5 points. The Eagles were second-best with 86 points, while the HRV boys were fifth overall, behind Marist, Capital, Mountain View and Summit.

“Despite the cold weather and high winds, we performed really well,” coach Donnie Herneisen commented. “The women’s second-place team finish was a big achievement for us, beating out other 5A powers like Mountain View, Redmond, Marist and even Capital High School out of Boise.

“We’re moving into the championship portion of our season, and going down to Bend and putting up the marks like that is a great preview of what is to come for the district championships in Hermiston in a few weeks. The kids are really starting to believe and gain confidence in the training and work they’ve been putting in, and it’s starting to show in the marks they’ve put up.”

Following Saturday’s meet, the team hosted The Dalles, Dufur and Klickitat Tuesday afternoon in what was essentially a dual between the two CRC teams. Both HRV boys and girls lineups won handily, with first-place finishes in almost every event.